Captain. The gaudy, blabbing and remorseful day
Is crept into the bosom of the sea;
And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades
That drag the tragic melancholy night;
2155Who, with their drowsy, slow and flagging wings,
Clip dead men's graves and from their misty jaws
Breathe foul contagious darkness in the air.
Therefore bring forth the soldiers of our prize;
For, whilst our pinnace anchors in the Downs,
2160Here shall they make their ransom on the sand,
Or with their blood stain this discolour'd shore.
Master, this prisoner freely give I thee;
And thou that art his mate, make boot of this;
The other, Walter Whitmore, is thy share.
2165

Captain. What, think you much to pay two thousand crowns,
And bear the name and port of gentlemen?
2170Cut both the villains' throats; for die you shall:
The lives of those which we have lost in fight
Be counterpoised with such a petty sum!

Earl of Suffolk. Thy name affrights me, in whose sound is death.
A cunning man did calculate my birth
And told me that by water I should die:
Yet let not this make thee be bloody-minded;
Thy name is Gaultier, being rightly sounded.
2190

Walter Whitmore. Gaultier or Walter, which it is, I care not:
Never yet did base dishonour blur our name,
But with our sword we wiped away the blot;
Therefore, when merchant-like I sell revenge,
Broke be my sword, my arms torn and defaced,
2195And I proclaim'd a coward through the world!

Earl of Suffolk. Stay, Whitmore; for thy prisoner is a prince,
The Duke of Suffolk, William de la Pole.

Earl of Suffolk. Obscure and lowly swain, King Henry's blood,
The honourable blood of Lancaster,
Must not be shed by such a jaded groom.
2205Hast thou not kiss'd thy hand and held my stirrup?
Bare-headed plodded by my foot-cloth mule
And thought thee happy when I shook my head?
How often hast thou waited at my cup,
Fed from my trencher, kneel'd down at the board.
2210When I have feasted with Queen Margaret?
Remember it and let it make thee crest-fall'n,
Ay, and allay this thy abortive pride;
How in our voiding lobby hast thou stood
And duly waited for my coming forth?
2215This hand of mine hath writ in thy behalf,
And therefore shall it charm thy riotous tongue.

Captain. Pool! Sir Pool! lord!
Ay, kennel, puddle, sink; whose filth and dirt
Troubles the silver spring where England drinks.
Now will I dam up this thy yawning mouth
For swallowing the treasure of the realm:
2230Thy lips that kiss'd the queen shall sweep the ground;
And thou that smiledst at good Duke Humphrey's death,
Against the senseless winds shalt grin in vain,
Who in contempt shall hiss at thee again:
And wedded be thou to the hags of hell,
2235For daring to affy a mighty lord
Unto the daughter of a worthless king,
Having neither subject, wealth, nor diadem.
By devilish policy art thou grown great,
And, like ambitious Sylla, overgorged
2240With gobbets of thy mother's bleeding heart.
By thee Anjou and Maine were sold to France,
The false revolting Normans thorough thee
Disdain to call us lord, and Picardy
Hath slain their governors, surprised our forts,
2245And sent the ragged soldiers wounded home.
The princely Warwick, and the Nevils all,
Whose dreadful swords were never drawn in vain,
As hating thee, are rising up in arms:
And now the house of York, thrust from the crown
2250By shameful murder of a guiltless king
And lofty proud encroaching tyranny,
Burns with revenging fire; whose hopeful colours
Advance our half-faced sun, striving to shine,
Under the which is writ 'Invitis nubibus.'
2255The commons here in Kent are up in arms:
And, to conclude, reproach and beggary
Is crept into the palace of our king.
And all by thee. Away! convey him hence.

Earl of Suffolk. O that I were a god, to shoot forth thunder
2260Upon these paltry, servile, abject drudges!
Small things make base men proud: this villain here,
Being captain of a pinnace, threatens more
Than Bargulus the strong Illyrian pirate.
Drones suck not eagles' blood but rob beehives:
2265It is impossible that I should die
By such a lowly vassal as thyself.
Thy words move rage and not remorse in me:
I go of message from the queen to France;
I charge thee waft me safely cross the Channel.
2270

Earl of Suffolk. Suffolk's imperial tongue is stern and rough,
Used to command, untaught to plead for favour.
Far be it we should honour such as these
With humble suit: no, rather let my head
2280Stoop to the block than these knees bow to any
Save to the God of heaven and to my king;
And sooner dance upon a bloody pole
Than stand uncover'd to the vulgar groom.
True nobility is exempt from fear:
2285More can I bear than you dare execute.

Earl of Suffolk. Come, soldiers, show what cruelty ye can,
That this my death may never be forgot!
Great men oft die by vile bezonians:
2290A Roman sworder and banditto slave
Murder'd sweet Tully; Brutus' bastard hand
Stabb'd Julius Caesar; savage islanders
Pompey the Great; and Suffolk dies by pirates.

[Exeunt Whitmore and others with Suffolk]

Captain. And as for these whose ransom we have set,
It is our pleasure one of them depart;
Therefore come you with us and let him go.

[Exeunt all but the First Gentleman]

[Re-enter WHITMORE with SUFFOLK's body]

Walter Whitmore. There let his head and lifeless body lie,
Until the queen his mistress bury it.

[Exit]

First Gentleman. O barbarous and bloody spectacle!
His body will I bear unto the king:
2305If he revenge it not, yet will his friends;
So will the queen, that living held him dear.

Dick the Butcher. [Aside] But methinks he should stand in fear of
2365fire, being burnt i' the hand for stealing of sheep.

Jack Cade. Be brave, then; for your captain is brave, and vows
reformation. There shall be in England seven
halfpenny loaves sold for a penny: the three-hooped
pot; shall have ten hoops and I will make it felony
2370to drink small beer: all the realm shall be in
common; and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to
grass: and when I am king, as king I will be,—

Jack Cade. I thank you, good people: there shall be no money;
2375all shall eat and drink on my score; and I will
apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree
like brothers and worship me their lord.

Jack Cade. Nay, that I mean to do. Is not this a lamentable
2380thing, that of the skin of an innocent lamb should
be made parchment? that parchment, being scribbled
o'er, should undo a man? Some say the bee stings:
but I say, 'tis the bee's wax; for I did but seal
once to a thing, and I was never mine own man
2385since. How now! who's there?

Jack Cade. Ay, there's the question; but I say, 'tis true:
The elder of them, being put to nurse,
Was by a beggar-woman stolen away;
And, ignorant of his birth and parentage,
2450Became a bricklayer when he came to age:
His son am I; deny it, if you can.

Jack Cade. [Aside] He lies, for I invented it myself.
Go to, sirrah, tell the king from me, that, for his
father's sake, Henry the Fifth, in whose time boys
went to span-counter for French crowns, I am content
he shall reign; but I'll be protector over him.
2465

Dick the Butcher. And furthermore, well have the Lord Say's head for
selling the dukedom of Maine.

Jack Cade. And good reason; for thereby is England mained, and
fain to go with a staff, but that my puissance holds
it up. Fellow kings, I tell you that that Lord Say
2470hath gelded the commonwealth, and made it an eunuch:
and more than that, he can speak French; and
therefore he is a traitor.

William Stafford. Well, seeing gentle words will not prevail,
2480Assail them with the army of the king.

Sir Humphrey Stafford. Herald, away; and throughout every town
Proclaim them traitors that are up with Cade;
That those which fly before the battle ends
May, even in their wives' and children's sight,
2485Be hang'd up for example at their doors:
And you that be the king's friends, follow me.

[Exeunt WILLIAM STAFFORD and SIR HUMPHREY, and soldiers]

Jack Cade. And you that love the commons, follow me.
Now show yourselves men; 'tis for liberty.
2490We will not leave one lord, one gentleman:
Spare none but such as go in clouted shoon;
For they are thrifty honest men, and such
As would, but that they dare not, take our parts.

Jack Cade. They fell before thee like sheep and oxen, and thou
behavedst thyself as if thou hadst been in thine own
slaughter-house: therefore thus will I reward thee,
2505the Lent shall be as long again as it is; and thou
shalt have a licence to kill for a hundred lacking
one.

Jack Cade. And, to speak truth, thou deservest no less. This
2510monument of the victory will I bear;
[Putting on SIR HUMPHREY'S brigandine]and the bodies shall be dragged at my horse' heels
till I do come to London, where we will have the
mayor's sword borne before us.
2515

Dick the Butcher. If we mean to thrive and do good, break open the
gaols and let out the prisoners.

[Enter KING HENRY VI with a supplication, and the]
[p]QUEEN with SUFFOLK'S head, BUCKINGHAM and Lord SAY]

Queen Margaret. Oft have I heard that grief softens the mind,
And makes it fearful and degenerate;
Think therefore on revenge and cease to weep.
2525But who can cease to weep and look on this?
Here may his head lie on my throbbing breast:
But where's the body that I should embrace?

Henry VI. I'll send some holy bishop to entreat;
For God forbid so many simple souls
Should perish by the sword! And I myself,
Rather than bloody war shall cut them short,
Will parley with Jack Cade their general:
2535But stay, I'll read it over once again.

Queen Margaret. Ah, barbarous villains! hath this lovely face
Ruled, like a wandering planet, over me,
And could it not enforce them to relent,
That were unworthy to behold the same?
2540

Messenger. The rebels are in Southwark; fly, my lord!
2550Jack Cade proclaims himself Lord Mortimer,
Descended from the Duke of Clarence' house,
And calls your grace usurper openly
And vows to crown himself in Westminster.
His army is a ragged multitude
2555Of hinds and peasants, rude and merciless:
Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother's death
Hath given them heart and courage to proceed:
All scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen,
They call false caterpillars, and intend their death.
2560

Lord Say. So might your grace's person be in danger.
The sight of me is odious in their eyes;
And therefore in this city will I stay
2570And live alone as secret as I may.

[Enter another Messenger]

Messenger. Jack Cade hath gotten London bridge:
The citizens fly and forsake their houses:
The rascal people, thirsting after prey,
2575Join with the traitor, and they jointly swear
To spoil the city and your royal court.

First Citizen. No, my lord, nor likely to be slain; for they have
won the bridge, killing all those that withstand
2590them: the lord mayor craves aid of your honour from
the Tower, to defend the city from the rebels.

Lord Scales. Such aid as I can spare you shall command;
But I am troubled here with them myself;
The rebels have assay'd to win the Tower.
2595But get you to Smithfield, and gather head,
And thither I will send you Matthew Goffe;
Fight for your king, your country and your lives;
And so, farewell, for I must hence again.

Jack Cade. Now is Mortimer lord of this city. And here, sitting
upon London-stone, I charge and command that, of the
city's cost, the pissing-conduit run nothing but
2605claret wine this first year of our reign. And now
henceforward it shall be treason for any that calls
me other than Lord Mortimer.

Messenger. My lord, a prize, a prize! here's the Lord Say,
2640which sold the towns in France; he that made us pay
one and twenty fifteens, and one shilling to the
pound, the last subsidy.

[Enter BEVIS, with Lord SAY]

Jack Cade. Well, he shall be beheaded for it ten times. Ah,
2645thou say, thou serge, nay, thou buckram lord! now
art thou within point-blank of our jurisdiction
regal. What canst thou answer to my majesty for
giving up of Normandy unto Mounsieur Basimecu, the
dauphin of France? Be it known unto thee by these
2650presence, even the presence of Lord Mortimer, that I
am the besom that must sweep the court clean of such
filth as thou art. Thou hast most traitorously
corrupted the youth of the realm in erecting a
grammar school; and whereas, before, our forefathers
2655had no other books but the score and the tally, thou
hast caused printing to be used, and, contrary to
the king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a
paper-mill. It will be proved to thy face that thou
hast men about thee that usually talk of a noun and
2660a verb, and such abominable words as no Christian
ear can endure to hear. Thou hast appointed
justices of peace, to call poor men before them
about matters they were not able to answer.
Moreover, thou hast put them in prison; and because
2665they could not read, thou hast hanged them; when,
indeed, only for that cause they have been most
worthy to live. Thou dost ride in a foot-cloth, dost thou not?

Lord Say. Hear me but speak, and bear me where you will.
Kent, in the Commentaries Caesar writ,
2680Is term'd the civil'st place of this isle:
Sweet is the country, because full of riches;
The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy;
Which makes me hope you are not void of pity.
I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy,
2685Yet, to recover them, would lose my life.
Justice with favour have I always done;
Prayers and tears have moved me, gifts could never.
When have I aught exacted at your hands,
But to maintain the king, the realm and you?
2690Large gifts have I bestow'd on learned clerks,
Because my book preferr'd me to the king,
And seeing ignorance is the curse of God,
Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven,
Unless you be possess'd with devilish spirits,
2695You cannot but forbear to murder me:
This tongue hath parley'd unto foreign kings
For your behoof,—

Jack Cade. [Aside] I feel remorse in myself with his words;
but I'll bridle it: he shall die, an it be but for
pleading so well for his life. Away with him! he
has a familiar under his tongue; he speaks not o'
God's name. Go, take him away, I say, and strike
2725off his head presently; and then break into his
son-in-law's house, Sir James Cromer, and strike off
his head, and bring them both upon two poles hither.

Lord Say. Ah, countrymen! if when you make your prayers,
2730God should be so obdurate as yourselves,
How would it fare with your departed souls?
And therefore yet relent, and save my life.

Jack Cade. Away with him! and do as I command ye.
[Exeunt some with Lord SAY]2735The proudest peer in the realm shall not wear a head
on his shoulders, unless he pay me tribute; there
shall not a maid be married, but she shall pay to me
her maidenhead ere they have it: men shall hold of
me in capite; and we charge and command that their
2740wives be as free as heart can wish or tongue can tell.

Dick the Butcher. My lord, when shall we go to Cheapside and take up
commodities upon our bills?

Jack Cade. But is not this braver? Let them kiss one another,
for they loved well when they were alive. Now part
them again, lest they consult about the giving up of
some more towns in France. Soldiers, defer the
2750spoil of the city until night: for with these borne
before us, instead of maces, will we ride through
the streets, and at every corner have them kiss. Away!

Jack Cade. Up Fish Street! down Saint Magnus' Corner! Kill
and knock down! throw them into Thames!
[Sound a parley]What noise is this I hear? Dare any be so bold to
2760sound retreat or parley, when I command them kill?

[Enter BUCKINGHAM and CLIFFORD, attended]

Duke of Buckingham. Ay, here they be that dare and will disturb thee:
Know, Cade, we come ambassadors from the king
Unto the commons whom thou hast misled;
2765And here pronounce free pardon to them all
That will forsake thee and go home in peace.

Lord Clifford. What say ye, countrymen? will ye relent,
And yield to mercy whilst 'tis offer'd you;
Or let a rebel lead you to your deaths?
2770Who loves the king and will embrace his pardon,
Fling up his cap, and say 'God save his majesty!'
Who hateth him and honours not his father,
Henry the Fifth, that made all France to quake,
Shake he his weapon at us and pass by.
2775

Jack Cade. What, Buckingham and Clifford, are ye so brave? And
you, base peasants, do ye believe him? will you
needs be hanged with your pardons about your necks?
Hath my sword therefore broke through London gates,
2780that you should leave me at the White Hart in
Southwark? I thought ye would never have given out
these arms till you had recovered your ancient
freedom: but you are all recreants and dastards,
and delight to live in slavery to the nobility. Let
2785them break your backs with burthens, take your
houses over your heads, ravish your wives and
daughters before your faces: for me, I will make
shift for one; and so, God's curse light upon you
all!
2790

Lord Clifford. Is Cade the son of Henry the Fifth,
That thus you do exclaim you'll go with him?
Will he conduct you through the heart of France,
And make the meanest of you earls and dukes?
2795Alas, he hath no home, no place to fly to;
Nor knows he how to live but by the spoil,
Unless by robbing of your friends and us.
Were't not a shame, that whilst you live at jar,
The fearful French, whom you late vanquished,
2800Should make a start o'er seas and vanquish you?
Methinks already in this civil broil
I see them lording it in London streets,
Crying 'Villiago!' unto all they meet.
Better ten thousand base-born Cades miscarry
2805Than you should stoop unto a Frenchman's mercy.
To France, to France, and get what you have lost;
Spare England, for it is your native coast;
Henry hath money, you are strong and manly;
God on our side, doubt not of victory.
2810

Jack Cade. Was ever feather so lightly blown to and fro as this
multitude? The name of Henry the Fifth hales them
to an hundred mischiefs, and makes them leave me
desolate. I see them lay their heads together to
2815surprise me. My sword make way for me, for here is
no staying. In despite of the devils and hell, have
through the very middest of you? and heavens and
honour be witness, that no want of resolution in me.
but only my followers' base and ignominious
2820treasons, makes me betake me to my heels.

[Exit]

Duke of Buckingham. What, is he fled? Go some, and follow him;
And he that brings his head unto the king
Shall have a thousand crowns for his reward.
2825[Exeunt some of them]Follow me, soldiers: we'll devise a mean
To reconcile you all unto the king.

[Sound Trumpets. Enter KING HENRY VI, QUEEN]
[p]MARGARET, and SOMERSET, on the terrace]

Henry VI. Was ever king that joy'd an earthly throne,
And could command no more content than I?
No sooner was I crept out of my cradle
But I was made a king, at nine months old.
2835Was never subject long'd to be a king
As I do long and wish to be a subject.

Henry VI. Why, Buckingham, is the traitor Cade surprised?
2840Or is he but retired to make him strong?
[Enter below, multitudes, with halters about]their necks]

Lord Clifford. He is fled, my lord, and all his powers do yield;
And humbly thus, with halters on their necks,
2845Expect your highness' doom of life or death.

Henry VI. Then, heaven, set ope thy everlasting gates,
To entertain my vows of thanks and praise!
Soldiers, this day have you redeemed your lives,
And show'd how well you love your prince and country:
2850Continue still in this so good a mind,
And Henry, though he be infortunate,
Assure yourselves, will never be unkind:
And so, with thanks and pardon to you all,
I do dismiss you to your several countries.
2855

Messenger. Please it your grace to be advertised
The Duke of York is newly come from Ireland,
And with a puissant and a mighty power
2860Of gallowglasses and stout kerns
Is marching hitherward in proud array,
And still proclaimeth, as he comes along,
His arms are only to remove from thee
The Duke of Somerset, whom he terms traitor.
2865

Henry VI. Thus stands my state, 'twixt Cade and York distress'd.
Like to a ship that, having 'scaped a tempest,
Is straightway calm'd and boarded with a pirate:
But now is Cade driven back, his men dispersed;
And now is York in arms to second him.
2870I pray thee, Buckingham, go and meet him,
And ask him what's the reason of these arms.
Tell him I'll send Duke Edmund to the Tower;
And, Somerset, we'll commit thee thither,
Until his army be dismiss'd from him.
2875

Duke/Earl of Somerset. My lord,
I'll yield myself to prison willingly,
Or unto death, to do my country good.

Henry VI. In any case, be not too rough in terms;
For he is fierce and cannot brook hard language.
2880

Duke of Buckingham. I will, my lord; and doubt not so to deal
As all things shall redound unto your good.

Jack Cade. Fie on ambition! fie on myself, that have a sword,
and yet am ready to famish! These five days have I
hid me in these woods and durst not peep out, for
all the country is laid for me; but now am I so
2890hungry that if I might have a lease of my life for a
thousand years I could stay no longer. Wherefore,
on a brick wall have I climbed into this garden, to
see if I can eat grass, or pick a sallet another
while, which is not amiss to cool a man's stomach
2895this hot weather. And I think this word 'sallet'
was born to do me good: for many a time, but for a
sallet, my brainpan had been cleft with a brown
bill; and many a time, when I have been dry and
bravely marching, it hath served me instead of a
2900quart pot to drink in; and now the word 'sallet'
must serve me to feed on.

[Enter IDEN]

Alexander Iden. Lord, who would live turmoiled in the court,
And may enjoy such quiet walks as these?
2905This small inheritance my father left me
Contenteth me, and worth a monarchy.
I seek not to wax great by others' waning,
Or gather wealth, I care not, with what envy:
Sufficeth that I have maintains my state
2910And sends the poor well pleased from my gate.

Jack Cade. Here's the lord of the soil come to seize me for a
stray, for entering his fee-simple without leave.
Ah, villain, thou wilt betray me, and get a thousand
crowns of the king carrying my head to him: but
2915I'll make thee eat iron like an ostrich, and swallow
my sword like a great pin, ere thou and I part.

Jack Cade. Brave thee! ay, by the best blood that ever was
broached, and beard thee too. Look on me well: I
2925have eat no meat these five days; yet, come thou and
thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead
as a doornail, I pray God I may never eat grass more.

Alexander Iden. Nay, it shall ne'er be said, while England stands,
That Alexander Iden, an esquire of Kent,
2930Took odds to combat a poor famish'd man.
Oppose thy steadfast-gazing eyes to mine,
See if thou canst outface me with thy looks:
Set limb to limb, and thou art far the lesser;
Thy hand is but a finger to my fist,
2935Thy leg a stick compared with this truncheon;
My foot shall fight with all the strength thou hast;
And if mine arm be heaved in the air,
Thy grave is digg'd already in the earth.
As for words, whose greatness answers words,
2940Let this my sword report what speech forbears.

Jack Cade. By my valour, the most complete champion that ever I
heard! Steel, if thou turn the edge, or cut not out
the burly-boned clown in chines of beef ere thou
sleep in thy sheath, I beseech God on my knees thou
2945mayst be turned to hobnails.
[Here they fight. CADE falls]O, I am slain! famine and no other hath slain me:
let ten thousand devils come against me, and give me
but the ten meals I have lost, and I'll defy them
2950all. Wither, garden; and be henceforth a
burying-place to all that do dwell in this house,
because the unconquered soul of Cade is fled.

Alexander Iden. Is't Cade that I have slain, that monstrous traitor?
Sword, I will hollow thee for this thy deed,
2955And hang thee o'er my tomb when I am dead:
Ne'er shall this blood be wiped from thy point;
But thou shalt wear it as a herald's coat,
To emblaze the honour that thy master got.

Jack Cade. Iden, farewell, and be proud of thy victory. Tell
2960Kent from me, she hath lost her best man, and exhort
all the world to be cowards; for I, that never
feared any, am vanquished by famine, not by valour.

[Dies]

Alexander Iden. How much thou wrong'st me, heaven be my judge.
2965Die, damned wretch, the curse of her that bare thee;
And as I thrust thy body in with my sword,
So wish I, I might thrust thy soul to hell.
Hence will I drag thee headlong by the heels
Unto a dunghill which shall be thy grave,
2970And there cut off thy most ungracious head;
Which I will bear in triumph to the king,
Leaving thy trunk for crows to feed upon.